BiggerPockets - Airbnb Business Ban: It’s Time to Switch to Medium-Term Rentals

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Short-term rental operators, fix-and-flippers, and long-term landlords should consider pivoting into medium-term rentals, typically stays of around 90 days, as an exit strategy and a way to keep cash flowing when short-term rental rules tighten. The speaker argues this shift brings fewer turnovers and headaches than short-term rentals, and an easier transition than many people expect.

Key Points

• Short-term rental regulations, such as those recently hitting Dallas and New York City, can force operators to sell or pivot, so planning a medium-term option ahead of time protects the property's income.
• Medium-term rentals can smooth out the seasonal peaks and valleys of short-term rentals, since off-season income can stay steadier when the property is rented to longer-stay tenants.
• Fix-and-flippers holding properties after hard money loans can switch to medium-term rentals to hold the property and generate cash flow instead of taking a loss on a sale or refinance.
• Long-term landlords can move into medium-term rentals using the same screening, background checks, and lease processes they already use, with less turnover than short-term rentals.
• The speaker says he has operated medium-term rentals for over eight years and has not had a squatter, with most tenants being business travelers, travel medical professionals, or families displaced by events like fires or floods.

Details Worth Noting

• Concrete instructions: Screen medium-term tenants the same way as long-term tenants by running background checks, collecting leases, and checking with the agencies the tenants are coming to work for. Use the off-season to start setting up the medium-term option while still operating short-term.
• Travel nurses are the example used: stays of about 90 days, so a property with four such guests per year has far fewer turnovers than a typical short-term rental.
• The speaker says medium-term tenants often handle minor repairs themselves, such as a light being out or a phone charger issue, instead of contacting the owner.
• The speaker frames the strategy as an option to consider, not a guaranteed result, and notes that the approach may be harder to find one-percent-rule deals in the current rate environment.

Bottom Line

Medium-term rentals offer a practical pivot for operators facing regulation or seasonal swings, and the transition is easier than many expect, provided tenant screening stays rigorous.